Advice on sister's graduation gift!

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Christianrkchk89

Christianrkchk89

Senior Member
#1
Aug 27, 2005
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#1
Warning.. the following may come off as a bit rude.. but you just have to see it from my point of view (if possible):

My younger sister is graduating from high school in a few weeks. When I graduated I got a book or two and a good chunk of money (that I saved and later bought a car). I won't be able to make it to her graduation sadly, because we just bought a house, have our first car payment, have a baby and live about 13 hrs away. :( Anyway, I need some ideas on what to send her for graduation since I don't want to send her money or a gift card.

I don't want to send money because.. Even though its not my life.. She will spend it on: tattoos, piercings, gauges/plugs, lingerie-type clothing that she actually wears in public and/or "modeling" for sketchy characters, and/or cigarettes. I don't agree with any of those things and will always see her as my little sister.. So I don't want to help condone that lifestyle.

What are some good gift ideas for high school grads that aren't planning on going to college? My budget is maxed out around $50. Please help!
 
N

nathan3

Guest
#2
#2
If she likes to draw you might want to get her a graphics tablet, The Huion H610 is one that cost around $50, On amazon. If she don't have a art program to go with that, then Sketchbook 6 is good. That cost a bit over $50. And obviously shes going to need a good computer to even use any of those two things. : )
 
maxwel

maxwel

Senior Member
#3
Apr 18, 2013
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I don't know why you're so unwilling to help your own little sister with the important things in life,
like tattoos and cigarettes.

Well... there must be something.

Maybe some nice music that doesn't contain any lyrics about smoking, drinking, parties, lingerie, or sketchy characters.
Wow... this is going to be a lot harder than I first thought.
 
Christianrkchk89

Christianrkchk89

Senior Member
#5
Aug 27, 2005
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She likes the color purple, candy, apparently Pokemon?, high heels, gothic-related stuff... That's all I can think of right now. And I actually don't know what kind of music she likes these days.. I would imagine either screamo or techno or both.
 
DustinC

DustinC

Banned
#6
May 23, 2013
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The Gift of Salvation is free of charge and can't be spent on cigarettes, just saying.
 
Christianrkchk89

Christianrkchk89

Senior Member
#7
Aug 27, 2005
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#7
DustinC said:
The Gift of Salvation is free of charge and can't be spent on cigarettes, just saying.
Click to expand...
She used to go to church with my grandma and I when I lived up in Ohio.. But then she decided that she was bi-sexual and that she didn't agree with any pastors that say that homosexuality is wrong (which is 99.9% of them) so instead she now stands outside churches with banners, wearing rainbow clothing, protesting gay-rights. She doesn't want anything to do with God at the moment, so all I can do is pray for a "kick in the pants" so to speak.
 
DustinC

DustinC

Banned
#8
May 23, 2013
82
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#8
Christianrkchk89 said:
She used to go to church with my grandma and I when I lived up in Ohio.. But then she decided that she was bi-sexual and that she didn't agree with any pastors that say that homosexuality is wrong (which is 99.9% of them) so instead she now stands outside churches with banners, wearing rainbow clothing, protesting gay-rights. She doesn't want anything to do with God at the moment, so all I can do is pray for a "kick in the pants" so to speak.
Click to expand...
This time last year I was likely much worse than her, reading the Satanic Bible and obsessing over the Occult and horrible, dark things and doing anything in the world I could to push myself further and further away from God. The Lord can do anything, and it often comes when we least expect it to. I am going to pray for your sister, that she may see the Path to Christ again, and that she can shake the original sin of "Are you my God, or am I my own God. Do I really have to follow Your Word, or do I decide what is right for myself." It is such a hard thing to do, but with the blessing of strength from the Lord, anything can be overcome.
 
Christianrkchk89

Christianrkchk89

Senior Member
#9
Aug 27, 2005
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DustinC said:
This time last year I was likely much worse than her, reading the Satanic Bible and obsessing over the Occult and horrible, dark things and doing anything in the world I could to push myself further and further away from God. The Lord can do anything, and it often comes when we least expect it to. I am going to pray for your sister, that she may see the Path to Christ again, and that she can shake the original sin of "Are you my God, or am I my own God. Do I really have to follow Your Word, or do I decide what is right for myself." It is such a hard thing to do, but with the blessing of strength from the Lord, anything can be overcome.
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Glad you were able to let God into your life! And thanks for those prayers for her.
 
maxwel

maxwel

Senior Member
#10
Apr 18, 2013
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Yeah, God is still in the miracle business.

Keep praying for her, but also pray that God will really give you special wisdom in dealing with her.

She's doing all this weird stuff because deep down she's not alright, and she KNOWS she's not alright. Somewhere in all of that weirdness, there is some way to reach her.

As far as a gift, you should try really hard to find her something truly meaningful to her, but which won't compromise your own values. The right gift right now might be a big deal to her... especially if she "feels" like you look down on her. She probably feels very isolated and removed from you.
 
Christianrkchk89

Christianrkchk89

Senior Member
#11
Aug 27, 2005
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#11
maxwel said:
Yeah, God is still in the miracle business.

Keep praying for her, but also pray that God will really give you special wisdom in dealing with her.

She's doing all this weird stuff because deep down she's not alright, and she KNOWS she's not alright. Somewhere in all of that weirdness, there is some way to reach her.

As far as a gift, you should try really hard to find her something truly meaningful to her, but which won't compromise your own values. The right gift right now might be a big deal to her... especially if she "feels" like you look down on her. She probably feels very isolated and removed from you.
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Thanks for that! :) I'll try to refrain from any generic gifts and try to pick out something more heart-felt and personalized! Good advice!
 
Nautilus

Nautilus

Senior Member
#12
Jun 29, 2012
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I dont know, I honestly just ask for cash anymore if people want to get me gifts for my birthday or christmas whatever...Money is the best because you can spend it on what you want.
 
Photoss

Photoss

Senior Member
#13
Sep 15, 2012
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#13
Grads love Amazon gift cards.
 
sandtigeress

sandtigeress

Senior Member
#14
Apr 29, 2013
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hm, why not invite her for a visit after graduation and then go shopping with her ?

You would hav time to talk to her, get to know her again, and have influence how you two spend the time and gift money.
 
A

agentmom

Guest
#15
#15
Christianrkchk89 said:
She used to go to church with my grandma and I when I lived up in Ohio.. But then she decided that she was bi-sexual and that she didn't agree with any pastors that say that homosexuality is wrong (which is 99.9% of them) so instead she now stands outside churches with banners, wearing rainbow clothing, protesting gay-rights. She doesn't want anything to do with God at the moment, so all I can do is pray for a "kick in the pants" so to speak.
Click to expand...
Then get her the best gift you could give her. Get her a really nice Bible and put an inscription inside about how much you love her.
 
Christianrkchk89

Christianrkchk89

Senior Member
#16
Aug 27, 2005
1,282
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#16
sandtigeress said:
hm, why not invite her for a visit after graduation and then go shopping with her ?

You would hav time to talk to her, get to know her again, and have influence how you two spend the time and gift money.
Click to expand...
Sadly neither me or my mom can afford to go up there or come down here. Plane tickets are a fortune and every other form of transportation is too expensive too. If I could afford to get her here I'd just go to her graduation myself.
 
Christianrkchk89

Christianrkchk89

Senior Member
#17
Aug 27, 2005
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agentmom said:
Then get her the best gift you could give her. Get her a really nice Bible and put an inscription inside about how much you love her.
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She has Bibles already and at this point in her life she'd just resent me for doing that. To her that'd be like me saying "I'm better than you because I'm a Christian." If there was any glimpse that she wanted to change that'd be a great gift! But it seems to need to get worse before it gets better. She's apparently "engaged" to some guy just like her: not going to college, in a loud band, dreadlocks, piercings, bad language, sketchy religious beliefs.. And she didn't even tell me because she knows I won't approve. I found out through social media. (Though these days "engaged" doesn't really mean anything other than we're gonna live together in sin for some years...but don't worry some time we'll probably get married).
 
Christianrkchk89

Christianrkchk89

Senior Member
#18
Aug 27, 2005
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#18
Sorry to turn down some of these suggestions! I really do want ideas! ..just certain things will turn her away from me as opposed to keep us in contact.
 
sandtigeress

sandtigeress

Senior Member
#19
Apr 29, 2013
526
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#19
If she is together with someone, making musik.
Does she sing or play an instrument ?
Maybe you could get her something in that area ?

What about fotographie ? If she is into clothes and styling herself, might she like a small camera (there
should be some at 50$, but probably not better than in a handy)?

Is she buying all her special goth clothes, or is she designing some of it herself ?
If she is designing some herself, maybe she would like something there, like a book on victorian cloths patterns
or somehing like that.

Do you know, what she will do after graduation, jobvise. Perhaps there is something she realy likes and will have meaning to her later on ?!?
 
Christianrkchk89

Christianrkchk89

Senior Member
#20
Aug 27, 2005
1,282
12
38
34
#20
sandtigeress said:
If she is together with someone, making musik.
Does she sing or play an instrument ?
Maybe you could get her something in that area ?

What about fotographie ? If she is into clothes and styling herself, might she like a small camera (there
should be some at 50$, but probably not better than in a handy)?

Is she buying all her special goth clothes, or is she designing some of it herself ?
If she is designing some herself, maybe she would like something there, like a book on victorian cloths patterns
or somehing like that.

Do you know, what she will do after graduation, jobvise. Perhaps there is something she realy likes and will have meaning to her later on ?!?
Click to expand...
She sang in choir but I don't think that's a passion of her's these days.

For her 16th birthday I bought her a nice, purple digital camera, a memory card and batteries.. Not sure where it is now but she's probably lost it or broken it :(

i think she mainly buys the clothes.. It'd be cool if she designed some! But I think she'd have to go to college for fashion design to get into that field and I'm not sure that's a passion either.

She's currently jobless. I'm not sure what she plans to do for work. At this point I wonder if she'll follow in my mom and girl cousin's footsteps and be a bartender. Because its "fun" and she can wear provocative clothing. She wants to be a model but at about 5 feet tall.. I don't think that's probably going to work out. Normally models are tall.
 
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